Taman Festival Bali, an Abandoned Place for Street Art

Intan Goyana

May 23, 2016

If you're into abandoned place or looking for an intriguing place to hunt for pictures, here's one for you, Taman Festival Bali located in front of Padang Galak beach in Sanur.

Taman Festival was a meant to be a sprawling 9.5-hectare entertainment complex in Sanur area. Circa mid-1990s an Indonesian businessman Bambang Pangestu was joining the local government to construct an entertainment center worth $100 million. It was supposed to have some rides, 3D cinema, exotic animal exhibitions, restaurants, retails, a man-made lake with a water screen projection, which would be used for a $5 million laser show, a microbrewery, and an artificial volcano erupting in the evening. It had a soft opening in October 1997, with many locals attended and sampled the exciting complex.

Unfortunately, the economic crisis in Asia took place, therefore, the numbers of visitors were dwindling down. There were also few ill-fated events happening; a lightning struck the laser show and supplies needed to continue building the volcano did not arrive. Eventually, the amusement park closed its door in 2000, Pangestu was unable to bring completion to the mega project. Afterward, there was an owning dispute between the government of Bali and Hartono, a local businessman who claimed to have bought the park from an auction (held by the bank who initially lent money to Pangestu to build the park). What's the status of this huge property now is unknown.

3D Cinema and its remaining relief, graff by DNZTWO

Enjoy our image sliders of Taman Festival Bali!

Hall after the main enrance

It's autumn in Bali

Stairs toward the Fountain Lady

The Fountain Lady by @Voyder

Signage left: Crocodilo Rock and Lost Temple

Skeletons

The Girl Who Waits

Tickets for sale

Entrance towards the Owl Hall

These days, nature had taken over Taman Festival Bali-as well as many aspiring graffiti artists. Being a fan of street arts, we headed out to the place and snapped a few shots. If you arrive at the main entrance, there will be a guy trying to get some money from you (10K IDR). Obviously, the place is no longer maintained or facilitated, there was no sign of 'ticket sold', nor he had any ticket with him to give you. So it's totally up to you if you wish to give him some money or not, though he might become pushy. Another alternative is to enter via the beach, simply park by the beach and walk to the left to find a path to enter the area.

You won't be alone, there will always be few locals hanging around, the passer-by, teenagers hiding with their lovers, kids playing by the main square, or adults running around participating in a "war game". Wear shoes, proper clothing and bring your own drink or snack, there will be many pieces of glasses, debris, and other sharp objects. Keep an eye on your surroundings, use common sense, and you're good to go!

The Owl Hall

Roof frame

An unfinished building

An unfinished building

Entrance to a building

When nature took over

Straight into the Parallel Universe

A part of the Owl Hall

You can easily spend 2 to 3 hours wandering around Taman Festival Bali! Do take your time to explore the area. Turn every stone and re-imagine the past. The air was quite poetic and eerie. Here are a few shots of graffitis, they were awesome, funny, and whimsical at times. Some acknowledgments are incomplete, if you guys can help us to identify the artist's names, we would be very grateful!